Revenues in the 2016 year to December rose 14.4 per cent to £225.1 million though harvest volumes rose by just 2.6 per cent as “some health challenges” meant the volume of harvest was lower than forecast.

Incident-based mortality costs totalled £5.4 million in the 2016 year compared with £5.8 million in 2015.

Pre-tax profits rose to £37.2 million from £17.6 million in 2015 as achieved price per kilo rose 29.2 per cent.